SVL's Tele mod project in pictures

sunvalleylaw

sunvalleylaw

Yep.
and words I suppose. For those interested. I am part way through the project now. Basically, my neck pickup wasn't working consistently, probably due to a bad solder joint. So I used it as an excuse to put a P90 in the neck, and replace the bridge pup with one wound to match the P90, both from Bryan Gunsher of BG Pups. I also am using a 4 way switch solderless wiring kit from Santellan Sounds. Here we go!


Stock guitar with new parts laid out.
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New pickups:
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Guitar gutted:

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I didn't know Warmoth was in Puyallup. I didn't pay attention when I ordered online. I have driven on 112th in Puyallup many times in my yute!
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Take out extra wood in control cavity to make room for new Santellan unit. I used a chisel, and my drill to hog out a little bit:

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Dry fit to make sure it all lines up:

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Painted raw wood to make it look nice, and pulled wires. Bridge set pretty close, neck will need some additional foam as I am not happy with how the pup sits in the hole. Needs to get flattened out, and maybe raised a little. Right now I am just using the foam from under the stock pickup, but it is not wide or thick enough. I will see if I can find an old mouse pad to cut up.

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Close up of wiring kit with switches to set for pot values, and wiring connectors:
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Wiring diagram for me to figure out. (pic replaced with better one below)


I will get the foam, and order some new knobs as the stock ones don't fit. The wiring unit has larger shafts. That's all for now!
 
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Yeah, this is the stuff I just didn't know going into the project. Before this, the only guitar I ever opened up was my strat, and of course there, the pickups are attached by screws to the pick guard, and you adjust with them. In teles, usually the neck pickup is screwed down into the wood, with either foam, or springs, or both used to provide tension against the pickup, so you can use the screws to adjust height. Of course, some have the strat style mount, but not most. You probably know how the tele bridge pickup is screwed to the bridge plate with machine screws, and you adjust with them. I didn't though.

That is one reason I am doing this thread. For some of us (me), the obvious is not so obvious. My internet searches do not reveal any definitive answers. But for example, when I searched about how to mount the neck P90, foam, and/or springs came up. Most people seem to use foam from whatever source, an old couch, mouse pads, etc. I tried to use the foam that Fender used under the stock pup, but it was not enough. So, I will get some more stuff, and go again, and take more pics. Hopefully it will help another nooby modder to have it all in one place from start to finish.

I am going to have to learn now about set up too, since I took everything apart, and will have to get it all lined up again. Dang! I didn't think about that, and my friend had it all set up with the strings nice and low and no buzzing. I think Howie has posted links about that stuff that I can find. I might as well learn how to do it. When I find the info, I will post it here too for reference.
 
Explain that circuit board to me please. I've never seen anything like that. So it's attached/wired to the pots?
 
Grave Bomber said:
Explain that circuit board to me please. I've never seen anything like that. So it's attached/wired to the pots?
Click to expand...

In short, yes. Here is a better pic of the wiring diagram. Basically, it is a pre-wired, solderless system so you can swap pickups in and out, and with switches, you can set the pots to different values (250 vs. 500, etc.) so you can customize the wiring if you have humbuckers or single coils or whatever. Plus, it is made out of good stuff. When I have time to get into that part of the project, I will post more about it. Meanwhile, here is the wiring diagram, and the site (http://www.elek-trix.com/collection...rix-for-telecasters-with-a-4-way-lever-switch ) with their description:

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Grave Bomber said:
Wow, on one hand that's pricy, but then again, that's really cool and versatile.
Click to expand...

Kinda pricey maybe, but when you look at the parts, no too bad. And not worse than the other kits really. Plus, I am an inexperienced solderer, and the convenience and time savings built in is worth it to me, plus I don't have to go out and buy a bunch of better soldering stuff.
 
sunvalleylaw said:
Kinda pricey maybe, but when you look at the parts, no too bad. And not worse than the other kits really. Plus, I am an inexperienced solderer, and the convenience and time savings built in is worth it to me, plus I don't have to go out and buy a bunch of better soldering stuff.
Click to expand...

Cheaper than Gibson's fake bumblebee caps.
 
Ordered knobs and a switch tip from allparts today. Went for the black amp knobs with a set screw. Also went for the standard black hat style tele switch tip, in the larger size. The solid shafts on the CTS pots used by this unit do not accept the stock Squier parts (split shaft pots). So will be going with a bit of the Blacktop look. Less than half the cost of the really cool, but pretty expensive knobs offered by Santellan.
 
So in response to the request for pics for the foam, here is the stock CVC neck pickup with the foam used by Squier. As you can see, it is used instead of springs to provide tension against the pickup so the adjustment screws that go into the body of the guitar can be used to raise and lower the pickup.

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Here is the new P90 with the old foam. It was not enough to provide enough tension, and also allowed the pickup to tilt in the hole.

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So I found some new foam from some packing that I rough cut to fit using the pickup cover as a guide. I trimmed down a little from here. You can see the old foam for comparison.

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Then, because I saw some guy do this while replacing a P90 in some video, I got springs to put through holes in the foam, so that both provide support and tension.

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Here is the wiring kit wired up. The switches were easy to follow and set once I took a close look at it. They will be able to adjust so I can experiment. The solderless connection unit was easy to use, well labeled, and provided secure connections. Really worth the money to me, especially when you consider the quality of the pots and electrical parts used.


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Put back together. I still need to receive the new knobs, and will tweak the adjustments and height of the pickups etc. Of course I stripped one of the adjustment screws and will have to go get another. I am such an idjit with stripping things. Grr. Oh well, the hardware store is not far tomorrow.

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Rock machine tele now in the line up!

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The new pickups definitely changed the voice of the guitar. Much more rock voiced and much less country or fender single coil sounding. Seeing as I have the strat that sounded similar on the neck, I like it so far and do not think I will miss it's original sound. As I said, I have some tweaking and experimenting to do to fine tune the sound. I will likely lower the pickups some, and move up from there. I only have had a few minutes with it so far. But it definitely spreads the sound palette with my guitars, and is going to be really cool! The pickups are definitely stronger and fuller than the stock ones, and sound like will be very musical once I have it all dialed in.

But I am also glad that I can experiment with other pickups given the ease of swapping pickups in and out with this electrical unit. All sorts of possibilities. I will post one last all put together pick once the knobs and switch cover are in, and on.

I hope this is hopeful or interesting to someone thinking about modding their tele. Cheers!
 
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Looks great! Nice job w/the foam. I have something similar going on w/the neck pickup on my orange tele. That control unit is very cool. I bet it sounds excellent.

:thu:
 
Awesome job, Steve! I'm glad it turned out so well. :thu:

Oh, you better get your act together... If we have to change your handle to sunvalleystripper, you'll get all the wrong attention. :embarrassed:
 
Thanks guys! Yeah, I am happy with it and excited to get it all adjusted. I will enjoy playing with the height adjustment to find some sweet spots. Right now, I am going to make the neck lower relative to the bridge a bit, and play with things from there. Unfortunately, I could not find a replacement screw (for the one I stoopidly stripped being in an hurry) today, even in Twin Falls, ID. I have a set ordered from Allparts, but will have to wait a couple days. I could push the pickup down and grab it with a pliers, but I am saving that move for when I have to get that screw back out if I have trouble backing it out with the screwdriver.


Regarding being brave, hardly! But that's the thing that is so cool about these CV Squiers: first, they are pretty darned good out of the box for a really reasonable price; second, they are not that expensive so at least I don't feel so petrified about trying out modding/hot-rodding on them a little bit. And with this wiring kit, it will be easy to experiment even further. It makes it so easy. Or put it back to original configuration if I so choose. But I doubt that. The strat is really close enough to those tones, and the new tones are going to be an awful lot of fun to play with. Rawk Tele indeed!!
 
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